


Are You Brave Enough?

by Interestingpumpkin



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Tower, Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Marriage Proposal, Mentioned Canon Typical Violence, Reader Insert, Romantic Gesture, Self Esteem Issues, Song fic, Surprise Gift, first person reader insert, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 05:39:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19222735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Interestingpumpkin/pseuds/Interestingpumpkin
Summary: You and Tony have been through a lot together and you feel like it's time to take the plunge and ask him to marry you. Will he say yes?





	Are You Brave Enough?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I heard this song and knew that I had to write something based on it, and this is the result. It's pretty much just tooth-rotting fluff, and I kind of adore it. I hope you guys enjoy it too!!

“Tony, you going out tonight?” I call.

He looks at me from over his glasses, his eyes trailing up my figure. I raise my eyebrows and lean on the doorway, folding my arms across my chest.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he says. “Why, you hear something?”

“Clint mentioned something when we got back. Seemed to think everyone was going out for drinks.”

“Oh,” he nods and turns back to his project. “You gonna go?”

I shrug and cross the room to check out what he’s working on. “I don’t know. Depends on whether or not there’s a better offer.”

“Yeah?”

I laugh. “Or maybe I’ll just have to make one.”

“You never really were one to wait for someone to come to you,” he says, shooting me a glance and a sly smile.

“You know me so well,” I shoot back.

“Mmm, we’ve been together long enough that I’d hope so.”

I plop down beside him and place one hand on his forearm. “You need a break, sweetheart,” I murmur. “Been working yourself to death.”

He sets his soldering iron to the side. “I don’t know if I’m quite at death’s door yet. Give it a couple more hours. Might be a little closer then.”

“I’m serious, Tony. Let’s do something tonight.” I slip my hand into Tony’s and tilt my head to the side. “Anything you want, as long as it isn’t work.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re no fun.”

“I know, I live to make your life harder.” I smile when he snorts.

“I don’t know if that’s true,” he says. “If anything, I’m probably putting more stress on you over any of this.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I don’t…” He takes off his glasses and runs his hand over his face. “I’m barely there when you need me. I spend all my time down here or on missions. I guess I don’t exactly understand why you’d want to be with me. Especially with all the baggage I haul around.”

“We all have baggage. It doesn’t diminish your appeal by any means.” My brows pull together as concern sets in. “Where is this coming from?”

“Sometimes I worry that I’m not doing enough. For you, for the team, for anyone. I’ve been trying to keep everything together and to keep you safe. I’m so scared that after everything that’s happened, I might lose you. You might get hurt, or decide that you’ve had enough, or you can’t deal anymore or get tired of all of this and that you’ll leave.”

“Tony, I’m not going to leave you unless you want me to. You’re stuck with me as long as you’re alive.” He still looks skeptical and I frown. I push away from the table and tug on his hand. “Come on. There’s something you need to see.”

“What?”

I pull him up from his seat and he follows as I lead him out into the hallway. He allows me to drag him up three flights of stairs to the project I’ve been working on for the past few months. Tony doesn’t ask any questions, but I can occasionally feel his hand tighten in mine every time we hit a new floor. Bucky sees us on his way to the elevator and he jerks his chin towards the room four doors down from his. I nod and he grins, only serving to further confuse Tony.

“What the hell does Barnes know that I don’t?” Tony asks.

“I’m gonna show you, don’t worry.”

I push the door open and take both his hands and lead him into the dark room.

_“Is it time?”_ F.R.I.D.A.Y. asks.

“It is,” I answer.

_“A bit early, isn’t it?”_

“A little, but it doesn’t matter,” I smile at Tony. “Roll it.”

A projector flickers to life at the other end of the room and the film begins to roll. Tony turns to face the wall and his mouth hangs open as the first video he took of me early in the morning begins to roll. This is from early on in our relationship. The first night we spent together, I think. I remember blinking up at him and smiling, and it’s clear in the video how tired I was.

_“Hey,”_ my sleepy voice says.

_“Good morning,”_ Tony’s voice follows, tired, but clearly happy.

I watch myself reach up and past the camera, and the phone fell from Tony’s hand when he leaned in to accept the kiss I offered him. It wasn’t anything spectacular or scandalous, but it was filled with what I know now was the beginning of us falling in love. It’s more than obvious in the video. I wrap an arm around Tony’s middle and pull myself against his side as the next clip begins to play and the soft romantic music Steve helped me find begins to play in the background.

Rhodey had managed to catch Tony on the phone with me about three years ago, two years into our relationship. Tony was so worried about keeping our relationship out of the spotlight that he had even been quiet about it around our teammates. He even went so far as to go into another room to talk to me with his best friend around. Rhodey, knowing how absolutely out of character that was for Tony decided to document it for posterity. He captured every single smile, laugh, sigh, and giggle from that conversation. It hadn’t been about anything important. He’d been on a mission and we had been missing each other. The phone call lasted twenty minutes, but I cut it down to the last five. When Tony told me that he loved me out loud for the first time.

_“M’kay. Yeah… Love you, honey. Bye.”_ In the video, Tony hung up and only then noticed Rhodey recording him. _“Did you film that?”_

_“Of course I did,”_ Rhodey answered.

_“Delete that now!”_ Tony got up and chased after Rhodey.

_“No way, man, you just told her you loved her! I’m putting that on Instagram!”_

The footage cut out after that.

“What is this?” Tony asks.

I lead him over to the couch in the middle of the room. “Just watch.”

Different articles roll across the screen as Joey Kidney’s “This is Love” interlude plays over it. Each headline is an announcement of our relationship. They start with speculations and pap shots of the two of us out to coffee or dinner together and cycle through to interviews that Tony and I gave when we were fully honest about and public with our relationship. There was a lot of drama in the media when news that we were seeing each other reached each outlet. Some of the articles were pretty harsh, even going so far as to accuse me of being a golddigger, but the majority of what I could find was positive. The world was happy that Tony had found someone that made him happy enough to be public about it.

Tony’s arm around my shoulders tightens and I pull my legs up onto the couch and lean into him more heavily. I switch between watching the video and Tony’s reaction. His brows pull together as random pictures of us together pop up. One of us dancing together at some gala the Avengers had been invited to. I think this one was taken by Clint. My head is thrown back, laughing at something Tony said, and Tony is smiling wider than any media outlet could have ever hoped to capture. Another that I’m sure Natasha took of us tangled together on the couch, napping. One of him flipping me off over his cup of morning coffee, the corner of his mouth quirked up slightly in spite of his morning grump episode. A photo booth strip from three years ago makes an appearance. The second to last picture in the strip is one of us kissing. The last is of Tony yelling at Scott to get out of the booth and me laughing uncontrollably at Scott’s embarrassment.

An old television clip plays.

_“How have you and… what’s your partner’s name again?”_ the talk show host asks.

_“Her name is (Y/N),”_ Tony answers.

_“How have you two been doing?”_

Tony shrugs. _“We’re great. Sometimes mixing work and pleasure actually works.”_

_“Oh really?”_ The host turns to the audience with her eyebrows raised, an expression which is followed by a round of “oooh”s and a couple of whistles from the crowd. Tony maintains a serene smile. _“Any plans for the future?”_

_“Nothing I’d want to jinx by sharing.”_ Tony laughs good-naturedly. _“We’re just going to live life and see where things go. There’s no rush for the time being.”_

_“Well put!”_ she says. She pulls out a couple of pictures of us from several nights before the interview. _“When was this from?”_

_“A childhood cancer charity ball, I think,”_ Tony says.

_“You two look great here.”_ The host watches the way that Tony smiles at the photos. _“How did you two meet? Were there sparks right away?”_

_“We met because of the Avengers and there definitely weren’t sparks in the beginning. (Y/N) was very much about the job when she first joined. Of course, I thought she was beautiful, but, y’know, there’s a time and a place for that and four years ago wasn’t it.”_

_“What changed?”_

_“We started spending more time together, she started coming out of her shell and she was really becoming a part of the Avengers family. I got to know her better. And then…”_ He trails off. _“One day there was an event that our team was invited to attend, and, of course, the usual crowd of fans and protesters showed up.”_

_“What happened?”_ the host cuts in.

_“Someone showed up with a gun.”_ A hush falls over the crowd and the music I set to the presentation peters out. _“They were arrested, but not before they pulled the trigger. (Y/N) jumped in front of me and took the bullet.”_

There are several gasps from the audience and I can’t help but laugh. Tony’s free hand moves to rest on my stomach where the puckered scar from the bullet wound is.

_“And?”_ the host prompts Tony to go on.

_“When they got her on a gurney, I rode with her to the hospital in the ambulance, and she turns to me and says-”_

“I’m guessing this would be a bad time to ask you out, huh?” I say, speaking over the clip.

Tony looks down at me and smiles. “And we’ve been together ever since,” he says, finishing the quote. “You put this together?”

I nod and point to the screen. “It’s not over yet.”

Rhodey pops up on the screen. _“You’re a lucky man, Tones,”_ he says. _“Five years together, and this woman wants to put something like this together for you for your anniversary. I never thought I’d see the day someone would be as extreme about gift giving as you are.”_

“Thoughtful,” Tony mutters. “I’m thoughtful.”

_“You’ve found someone who’s never going to leave you, Stark,”_ Bucky takes Rhodey’s place. _“Someone who loves you unconditionally.”_

Steve joins him and wraps an arm around his waist. _“Watching the two of you together and the way that you’ve grown both as a person and as a pair has been astounding. Someone like that doesn’t come along every day, but lucky enough for you, she just walked right into your life.”_

_“Even took a bullet for you,”_ Bucky adds.

Natasha takes over. _“What those two were trying to say is that you’ve got nothing to worry about. (Y/N) isn’t going anywhere. The only other person I’ve seen with that level of patience towards you is Rhodes, and he’s your best friend.”_

_“(Y/N) loves you to the moon and back,”_ Wanda says. _“She loves you just as much, if not more than you love her.”_

_“Congrats on making it this far, you guys,”_ Scott takes Wanda’s place. Tony laughs. _“That’s no easy feat. I mean it. You’re lucky to have each other.”_

_“(Y/N) is amazing, Mr. Stark,”_ Peter joins the mix. _“I know you worry about her a lot, and that you want to take care of her, but I don’t think that’s something you have to do. I think you should let her take care of you a little. Maybe.”_

_“No, you’re right, Peter,”_ Bruce places a hand on Peter’s shoulder and his eyes go wide. Both Tony and I laugh when he grins and points to Bruce like he can’t believe he’s standing next to him. _“You do a lot to take care of all of us. You deserve someone who’s going to take care of you. And, trust me, she wants to.”_

_“Man, I have never seen anyone love someone more than (Y/N) loves you,”_ Sam adds. _“You’re not gonna mess this up.”_

Rhodey appears again. _“You’re the kind of man who wants to preempt disaster. The only advice I can give you is don’t. You’ve got so much time left, the only thing to worry about is what your answer is gonna be.”_

“My answer?” Tony looks at me, confused.

I point at the screen where the words “Will you marry me?” are illuminated in cursive script on a neon sign behind the projector screen.

“So, I don’t have a ring because I thought I had a couple more weeks, but I still mean it,” I say. “I know you’re wary, but we’ve been talking about it for a while now, and you don’t have to say yes, but I do want to marry you.”

“Thing is,” Tony says, digging around in his pocket. “I do have a ring.”

“What?”

“I’ve had it for a while, I just didn’t know how to ask or… or if you’d even say yes.” He holds out a ring with a simple silver band, an elegant diamond, and two small sapphires set on either side of it. “I think I’ve got my answer now, though.”

I sit up stick straight. “Does that mean you’re saying yes?”

He smiles at the hint of excitement in my voice. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I am. But only if I still get that ring you were talking about.”

I laugh and nod as I take his face in my hands. “Of course. Can’t have you walking around with a naked finger. The world needs to know you’re mine.”

The corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles wider and he leans in to capture my lips. I sigh softly and lean into him, my hands carding through his hair as I kiss him back. Tony pulls away and presses his forehead to mine and carefully slips the ring onto my finger.

“You’re going to think this is really cheesy, but there’s one more thing.”

“More?” he asks, lifting one eyebrow.

I nod and tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to play the last song. Love of My Life by Queen floats from the speakers and Tony turns to me and grins.

“You went all out,” he says.

“Well, it’s not like I could just _buy_ you something. I had to do something that might actually surprise you.” I haul myself up from the couch and offer him my hand. “Did it work?”

He laughs and takes my hand, drawing himself up to his full height. “Yeah, it did.”

He pulls me close and takes my hand in his before placing the other on my waist. We begin to sway to the music and Tony presses a kiss to my temple and hums along to the song.

“Thank you,” he murmurs against my hair. “No one’s ever done anything like that for me before.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” I say. “I’m gonna have to do something else for our anniversary.”

“No,” he says. “Let’s just stay in that night. No fancy dinner or gifts or anything like that. Just a movie and takeout.”

“Since when is a quiet night in your ideal date?” I ask, grinning nonetheless.

“Since you proposed first.” I raise my eyebrows, prompting him to explain further. “And since I realized that I don’t need anything more than what I already have right here in front of me.”

“Sap.”

“Yeah, but you love me for it.”

“I do. So much, Tony.”

He leans down and kisses me softly.

“I love you, too. So much.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is what keeps the writing wheel turning, so kudos and comments are more than welcome! I wanna know what you guys think!


End file.
